"Control And Dependency Define The Essence Of Employment", SCC Rules

The Supreme Court of Canada released a highly-anticipated decision for professional partnerships, employers and employees today in McCormick v Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP.   We commented previously on the facts of the case and the history of proceedings to the British Columbia Court of Appeal here.

In short, McCormick, a partner at a large law firm, claimed that the mandatory retirement provision in the partnership agreement was discriminatory and contravened the Human Rights Code.  The case was eventually heard by the British Columbia Court of Appeal, which concluded that McCormick could not be both a partner and an employee of the partnership. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the result in the Court of Appeal, but disagreed with the lower court's following conclusion: